Merman's Curse
by MagicConan14
Summary: Struggling to keep a secret could land you in deep water, as En finds out...Set after episode 7. Done for Cerulean Week day 2 (water / merman AU). Rated T to err on the safe side. EnAtsu.


Merman's Curse

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters in this oneshot.

This involves ideas from Cerulean Week's prompts for days 1 and 2, but it's written for day 2. This is my first time writing an actual EnAtsu fic, so bear that in mind if it seems forced or it otherwise sucks.

* * *

En was cursed from the moment he was born.

No, he wasn't a werewolf - he was half merman.

That meant every blue moon, he had to be subjected to his curse until the following morning. Certainly, while that worked for him and his slacker personality, it didn't work for everyone else.

/

"Why are we here?" Io grumbled, poking a plastic straw into his pineapple shaved ice with a bored look on his face as he curled up on his deckchair and shivered. "Surely, Macho Beach isn't the most profitable place in the world to be in winter." He turned with expectant eyes to En, who was sitting on the deckchair next to him, a volume of half-read manga in hand.

"Atsushi's part of the freestyle competition, he's a substitute for one of the swimming club guys," En told him, trying his hardest not to eye any of the other muscular men on the beach as he glanced around to find the other Defence Club members and the day's event schedule. He finally found the schedule, only to see Ryuu being dragged away from it by two muscular men while Yumoto was helping the shopkeeper (the one with the multi-coloured hair) run their shop.

"When's the swimming competition, Ryuu?" Io called out when Ryuu reluctantly sat down where the men told him to...at the arm wrestling booth.

"It's tonight, it starts at sundown," came the pinkette's reply.

Sundown? That was dangerous, not only for Atsushi but for his secret.

/

The other members of the Defence Club had all headed back to the hotel by the time sundown came, and just while En was sneaking over to some nearby caves to wait out his transformation, the klaxon that signalled the start of Atsushi's event sounded. He dragged his bag to a secluded spot, tossed off his clothes and dove into the sea before his friend could find him.

Under the water, the moonlight threw eerie shadows on the sea floor as En writhed in agony, his legs fusing into an aquamarine tail, gills forming on his neck. Just as the pain of the transformation subsided, Atsushi's shadow passed above him - the normally-bespectacled boy was being dragged along by a particularly strong winter tide.

Just as Atsushi spotted a cave with an underwater opening and tried to crawl in, En swam into action. These particular caves were known to curse humans who entered during a blue moon to turn into merfolk, but since merfolk and humans never got along, no humans knew of the curse.

"Atsushi! Stop!" he cried, poking his head into a pool in the cave floor only to find Atsushi lying on his side at the edge of the pool, sopping wet. Stalactites and stalagmites sparkling with sea salt sat beyond Atsushi's almost lifeless, shivering body, threatening to impale anyone who tried to go that way. The moon smiled menacingly from a hole the size of a beach ball in the cave ceiling.

Atsushi opened his eyes blearily, only taking in the brunette's face.

"There's a curse for any human who enters these caves! You've got to get out of here before the blue moon's light touches you, or else you'll be turned-" Too late. Atsushi's right ankle was covered in green scales. "Gah, why is life so troublesome?" The merman flushed pink as he asked this to no one in particular.

"What's wrong, En-chan?"

"There's a way to fix this, but it involves-" En propped Atsushi's body up against a stalagmite and whispered into his ear. Once the message was conveyed, both were bright red in the face.

"You mean to say, the only way to cure this," he gestured across his transforming lower half while biting his lip, "is with a kiss?!"

En put a finger over his lips and nodded.

Atsushi glanced away, but before he could reconsider it, he began to cough and splutter - the merman transformation was causing all the excess sea water in his body to be rejected through his newly-formed gills - so En embraced him and placed his lips on Atsushi's, restoring Atsushi's human body (albeit now with his swimming outfit torn).

"Outside this cave, you'll find my clothes," En instructed him plainly, using his finger to move around an invisible map of the cave. "There's a spare pair of swimming trunks in my bag, they look exactly like the ones you got for this event." He sighed wearily and dropped back into the pool, thus showcasing his tail to Atsushi. "Meanwhile, I'm stuck here for the night."

"En-chan-"

"Go finish your event already. I know you're just a substitute, but you'll give it your all anyway." After En finished his conversation, bubbles and soft snoring began to rise from the water slowly. No matter what form En took, he would always be lazy enough to sleep anywhere.

/

On the day of the next blue moon, the duo was at the Kurotamayu when a prickling sensation came over Atsushi.

"Don't tell me I intervened too late last time," En muttered, examining the scales that were gradually appearing on his friend's leg. Under running water, they shimmered in rainbow hues, almost mesmerising to someone who hadn't stared at any other scales recently aside from his own. "We're going to have to run to my house, then," he declared, shaking his head to free himself from the mental hypnosis of rainbows.

Thus, En and Atsushi spent the night in the bath tub at En's house, trying their hardest to remove the memory of their kiss from their heads, but every time they remembered where they were and why they were there, that only served to strengthen it.

* * *

This was partially inspired by a TV show called _H2O - Just Add Water_ which I used to watch, but that fact is kinda obvious to anyone who knows of the show...


End file.
